Roadguy: Some cops and cabbies pretend that 'buckle up' isn't the law

By JIM FOTI, Star Tribune

Last update: May 17, 2008 - 10:02 PM

Alert reader Dennis sees a lot from the window of the bus, including police officers and taxi drivers who aren't wearing seat belts. "I didn't hear that there are exemptions to the law," he said.

For those groups, there aren't.

Sgt. Jesse Garcia, Minneapolis police spokesman, said officers are encouraged to use seat belts, but not all do. He estimated that he himself buckles up 75 percent of the time.

Crash protection is important, but Garcia said that officers need to be able to get out of their vehicles quickly, and that seat belts easily get tangled with guns and flashlights. So it's left to the officer's discretion, he said.

And while taxi drivers may know it's illegal to do their jobs without a seat belt on, they may also know that they can't be pulled over for that reason alone, so it's easily gotten away with. (A bill to change that rule died this month in the Legislature.)

Lights on?

Speaking of law enforcement, an alert reader named Chub from Truman, Minn., has a question about daytime running lights:

While I believe it is a good, safe practice to run with lights on, I do have a question: If it is really a safety issue, why don't our highway patrolmen use this practice? ... In this case shouldn't the gander do as the goose does?

State Patrol spokesman Mark Peterson said such lights aren't legally required, and there's no policy on them. He said that troopers switch on their headlights when weather or light conditions warrant.

Garcia said that Minneapolis squad cars don't have daytime running lights, and he noted that when officers want to be noticed by other drivers, they have much brighter (and louder) options.

Where the yellow went

Dennis had another concern: He wondered about the seriously faded yellow stripes that run -- or used to run -- diagonally across the light-rail tracks in downtown Minneapolis to help keep drivers off. "Tell 'em to get out the paint," he said.

Metro Transit commissioned the stripes, and Julie Johanson, an agency spokeswoman, said they were painted by a contractor in May 2005 at a cost of $29,000. They "frankly didn't last very long," she said.

Johanson said there wasn't enough evidence of their effectiveness to justify repainting them. The numerous "do not drive on tracks" signs and the "mountable curbs" -- raised concrete on either side -- will remain.

So will the clueless drivers. So grab the kids, find a nice spot in the skyway over 5th Street and watch the cars drive where they aren't supposed to. The best part is the moment they realize they've made a dangerous mistake.

Jim Foti can be reached at 612-673-4491 or roadguy@startribune.com

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